posted on Jul, 16 2003 @ 03:10 AM
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: July 15, 2003)
The Anchorage Assembly could join Fairbanks, the Legislature and other Alaska cities in standing against the USA Patriot Act, which grants federal
authorities broad snooping and surveillance powers.
Assemblyman Allan Tesche's resolution, to be considered at tonight's meeting, asks Anchorage police and other city agencies to refuse to help
federal agents acting under the Patriot Act in ways that violate "the rights and liberties guaranteed equally under the state and federal
constitutions." Assembly members Janice Shamberg, Melinda Taylor, Doug Van Etten, Fay Von Gemmingen and Brian Whittle are co-sponsors.
"Ultimately, Anchorage is a progressive city and a city that respects individual rights and liberties," said Tesche, who represents downtown.
"Anchorage also is very much behind the country's war on terrorism, but this has to be and should be accomplished consistent with our
Constitution."
Congress passed the Patriot Act during the emotionally charged aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001. The law lowers the legal standards federal agents must
meet to secure wiretaps or search homes and grants them broader access to personal medical, financial and school records, library records and
bookstore purchases.
More than 150 state and local governments have adopted resolutions criticizing the act.
In May, Alaska's Republican-dominated Legislature overwhelmingly voted to oppose the act. That resolution said local and state law enforcement
officials should refuse to help federal agents conducting surveillance and other activities authorized by the Patriot Act. The measure passed the
state Senate 19-0 and the state House 32-1.
laska joined state legislatures in Hawaii and Vermont this year in opposing or questioning provisions of the act.
Alaska lawmakers "understood it's not just a liberal (thing); it concerns everybody," said June Pinnell-Stephens, collection services manager at
Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library. "They were able to put aside traditional partisan differences and join together to fight something
that's going to affect everybody."
Local governments in that borough, the city and borough of Juneau, Kenai, North Pole, Skagway and Gustavus have adopted similar resolutions.
It's time Anchorage weighed in, Tesche said.
The Patriot Act could require local police officers to initiate or help with inquiries, investigations, surveillance or detention actions and
immigration investigations, Tesche said.
Immigration matters are the federal government's responsibility, he said. City police don't have the time, resources or training to enforce federal
laws, he said.
Also, Tesche questioned the Patriot Act's relaxation of privacy rights related to searches and seizures of materials -- from medical records to
someone's personal reading list.
But Assembly Chairman Dick Traini on Monday said he won't vote for the resolution as it's written, because it would prevent Anchorage officers from
enforcing immigration laws.
"In this day and age, we need to enforce the laws of the land, and that includes immigration laws," Traini said.
Tesche said his resolution shouldn't be interpreted that way.
"If police officers see a situation that very clearly involves illegal immigrants and some danger to them, does that mean they turn a blind eye to
them?" Tesche asked.
If a cop found a van full of illegal immigrants down at the port, no one would expect the officer to just walk away, and the resolution wouldn't
encourage that, Tesche said.
He said he'll entertain amendments to his resolution if Traini or other members wish. He said he's optimistic it will pass.
"I think we have waited long enough," Tesche said. "A lot of us on both sides of the political outlet say the same thing about the continual
erosion of individual liberties in this country. It's something we have to watch at the federal level and the state level and the local level."